Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Archive for October 5th, 2009

So I finally broke down this weekend and rented an HD terminal box from Rogers, just to see what it all looked like, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the picture is quite good and I did enjoy seeing Hockey and Football games in High Definition format.

I did not buy the terminal box, I will rent it for a month or two, and hopefully the PVR or terminal itself will go on sale (again) and I may purchase it at that time, because having an HD television which doesn’t receive the signals does seem a little silly (albeit frugal).

The interesting tricks in getting this new service is:

• My bill goes up $12.95 a month (plus taxes) so that is the know kick in the teeth.
• I then received a note about my account and I also get hit with a $2.99 Digital Services fee.

The second fee is what has me scratching my head, because, I already have two digital terminals in my house (both for regular TV, but they are digital none the less). Does this mean I pay this fee on each of them? This is not a “rental” fee, because I own those boxes, so I am paying over $10 for the right to have a digital terminal?

What Next With Digital TV?

Here is another interesting question to answer, when Canada finally follows the US and stops broadcasting on the Analog frequencies for TV, what happens to the Cable signals? If I connect an “aerial” I can receive digital (and HD) signals right now in the Ottawa area (very limited channels, but it is still possible), but what happens when digital takes over?

• Will we need “Digital Terminal” set top boxes? You’d think the answer would be “no”, but I am pretty sure the real answer is “Yes”, at least for now.  These boxes allow your Cable provider to monitor your usage and control your access very easily.
• Will HD signals be “free”, or will I be paying a fee to receive those as well (i.e. either buy a Set top box, rent one or what)?

My Cable bill is now about $90 a month again, I am not happy with that, and am thinking, this may have to change very soon.

Any ideas or opinions on this topic Home Entertainment/Home Expense subject?